Coronavirus news - live: UK sees highest case increase since May amid warning of further nationwide rules

Government refuses to rule out nationwide restrictions

Government sources have confirmed nationwide restrictions on social activities have not been ruled out if coronavirus cases continue to surge two to three weeks after the imposition of Boris Johnson’s “rule of six”.

But ministers are said to be exceptionally reluctant to return to national lockdown and remain hopeful that any tightening of restrictions can be kept to a local level and tailored to the specific circumstances of each outbreak.

A senior official at Public Health England today indicated that this could include curfews in London to prevent drinkers socialising into the early hours, when observation of social distancing rules is likely to break down.

Freeze rents to avert mass evictions amid pandemic, urges Sadiq Khan

The mayor of London has asked to be given the powers to make it against the law for landlords to increase their rent for two years, arguing hundreds of thousands of renters in the capital are at risk of eviction because of the pandemic, Tim Wyatt reports.  

The ban on evictions imposed at the start of lockdown is due to lapse at the end of this week, giving landlords their first opportunity to force out tenants who may be in rent arrears.  

Research carried out by the Greater London Authority suggests as many as 500,000 private renters were potentially facing eviction notices having been unable to keep up with their rent during lockdown.

UK records highest daily increase in coronavirus cases since May

Some 3,991 people tested positive, bringing the total number of current UK cases to 378,219, Jane Dalton reports.

Another 20 deaths within 28 days of a positive test were reported, as of 9am on Wednesday. It makes the official death toll 41,684.

The number of people in hospital suffering Covid-19 is 901, up by 141 in 24 hours.

Jude Law says Contagion on-set doctors warned him about real-life pandemic during filming

Jude Law said during a remote appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon earlier this week that he and others on the set of Contagion were told by medical professionals that a pandemic was “a matter of when, not if”, Clemence Michallon reports.

“One of the most affecting memories or experiences on that film were the doctors and the virologists who were advising us,” he recounted. “…And they were all saying to us, ‘This is a matter of when, not if.’”

Law said he came out of the film with a heightened awareness of certain mechanisms that can contribute to the spread of a virus, such as touching one’s face or not washing one’s hands often enough

“All of that stuff was sort of embedded in me, but of course it slowly percolates away,” he added.

Some local infection rates more than double in a week - with Bolton soaring to 204 per 100,000 people

The rolling seven-day rate of new cases of Covid-19 for every local authority area in England, based on government testing figures, shows infection rates have more than doubled in a week in some high-risk parts of the country.

Bolton now has the highest rate of infection, with 204 cases per 100,000 people in the week until 13 September - up from 152 in the week prior.

Oadby & Wigston has the second highest rate, up from 52 to 136. Hyndburn is in third place, where the rate has risen from 64 to 132, with 107 new cases.

Cities recording sharp increases in their seven-day rates include:

- Liverpool (up from 56 to 106, with 530 new cases)

- Leicester (up from 60 to 89, with 318 new cases)

- Salford (up from 75 to 89, with 232 new cases)

- Newcastle upon Tyne (up from 51 to 64, with 194 new cases)

Additional reporting by PA

Operating hours reduced at test sites in hardest-hit regions as demand soars

Hours of operation at several Covid-19 community test sites in Lancashire have been reduced after people from outside local areas joined the queues amid problems in the national testing system.

The walk-in locations were set up specifically for people living in areas of intervention where the infection rate is high, but demand has soared alongside national capacity issues.

The sites in Burnley, Hyndburn, Pendle and Preston - all of which have some of the highest rates of infection in the country - had been open seven days a week from 10am to 3pm, but will now all be closed on Thursdays and Fridays.

“The demand on the community testing sites has increased enormously since schools reopened, due to lack of laboratory capacity in the national system and the restrictions on available appointments at other sites,” said Neil Jack, chair of the regional co-ordination group on the Lancashire Resilience Forum. 

R rate is ‘single most important fact’, Boris Johnson tells MPs

The prime minister has told the Commons Liaison Committee that the "single most important fact" in determining the state of coronavirus in the UK is the R value.

“At the moment, alas, alas, alas, the R - having been under one for so many months after the fantastic efforts of the British people - the R is above one,” Boris Johnson told MPs.

"That's the most important thing we have to look at."

Testing 'chaos’ could force widespread school closures, teachers and unions warn

Teachers and education unions have warned that schools across England and Wales are struggling to cope with a lack of coronavirus tests and the “increasingly out of control” situation could force widespread closures in the weeks ahead, Adam Forrest reports.

Thousands of pupils have been sent home in recent days after positive test results for the disease have forced hundreds of schools to ask classes or year group bubbles to self-isolate for 14 days.

Head teachers have told The Independent about the obstacles faced by school staff when trying to procure Covid-19 tests, and said teacher shortages were already causing “significant” problems in delivering lessons.  

The difficulties in accessing tests and the long delays in receiving results were causing some teachers to be off for a week or more once they displayed symptoms – even if they eventually test negative, they said.

The Association of School and College Leaders said it has received emails from 264 schools and colleges who said they had staff or pupils who had symptoms and were struggling to find an available test.

Local lockdown introduced in south Wales

A local lockdown will be enforced in the Rhondda Cynon Taf area following a “rapid rise” in Covid-19 infections, the Welsh Government has confirmed.

Under the new restrictions, which come into force at 6pm on Thursday, people must not enter or leave the area without a reasonable excuse.

Meetings with other people indoors will not be allowed, including for extended households.

All licensed pubs, bars and restaurants in the area, which has a population of around 240,000, will have to close at 11pm.

Rising UK cases will likely be followed by spike in deaths, Boris Johnson warns

Rapidly rising numbers of coronavirus cases will be followed by a “proportionate” spike in deaths in the UK, Boris Johnson has warned as infections reached their highest since May, our political editor Andrew Woodcock reports. 

Some 3,991 people tested positive across the UK on Tuesday, amid fears that the true figure will be higher because of the unavailability of tests to many of those with Covid symptoms.

And Mr Johnson told MPs that the outbreaks detected among younger people in recent weeks, which have been blamed on a post-lockdown return to socialising, are now spreading into older generations with greater vulnerability to the disease.

Appearing before a House of Commons committee, the prime minister admitted that there was a “very, very pressing need to ramp up our testing system”, which he said was experiencing “huge problems”, with not enough tests available.